The list is looong,

And the work was fantastic.

That’s why Michelle Guish was the casting directors’ casting director.

 

But she was also our “industry Mum”. She hired my partner, Sarah Beardsall, straight out of college, and looked after us both, and taught us the virtues of craft, diligence and integrity in our work.

 

When I was broke, I’d find a tenner in my jacket pocket, and know it was Mishi quietly looking out for me.

 

Whenever I fill a dishwasher, still, I remember the machine she bought us for our first kitchen in 1993.

 

Or how she took our first born, rested him on her shoulder, and didn’t so much pat as whack him into calmness.

 

A no-nonsense person who could judge – and crush – your terrible ideas with a raised eyebrow or a deft squish of her brightly-lipsticked mouth.

 

Who loved actors, directors and the business of storytelling.

 

Who owned every single room she sat in.

 

Had waiters or shop assistants gladly running to service her every need.

 

Whose personality was plus, triple plus — and oh, that laugh, piercing and infectious, that went with it.

 

Who could be the centre of everything and yet, and yet, was so private too. You won’t find much about her online, and even less FROM her.

 

She had that extraordinary personality, but she valued professionalism too. She would never gossip. She didn’t schmooze. She cared only about getting the work right. She was the real deal. She was kosher.

 

And the thought that she is gone….?

 

Just like a Mum, you could call her — Sarah did, and I knew I could — and go straight to the heart of your troubles, and hope for sound advice.

 

And just like a Mum, the idea that you can’t call her any more… that that laugh has gone, that you’ll never see those censorious eyebrows and that gorgeously expressive face again… it’s too much to bear.

 

RIP Michelle Guish

9.3.1954 – 24.1.2020